Drexler Reportedly Will Be Traded for Gill

Clyde Drexler might be about to get his wish to be traded to a title contender, and he wouldn’t have to leave the Northwest.

The New York Daily News reported Thursday that the Portland Trail Blazers and Seattle have agreed tentatively to a deal that would send Drexler to the SuperSonics for Kendall Gill.

Seattle President Wally Walker wouldn’t comment on the report except to say the Drexler-Gill deal “has been mentioned for a long time.” Trail Blazer President Bob Whitsitt was out of town on a scouting trip and didn’t return a telephone message.

Both shooting guards have expressed unhappiness in their current situations.

“I’m not going to say anything about it until it’s finished,” Drexler said Thursday night before Portland’s game at Detroit.

Asked if the trade talk was a distraction, he said: “It doesn’t make my job any easier, but it’s no big deal.”

Drexler’s salary this year is $1.58 million; Gill is making $2.6 million. To make the deal work under NBA salary restrictions, Portland would have to include another player. A likely candidate is Tracy Murray, whose $1.16-million salary would fit nicely into the deal.